This capacity-building activity, sponsored by an ICOM SAREC Special Projects Grant in 2024, was carried out in collaboration with ICOM Italy on September 12-13 at Galata Museo del Mare in Genova and with ICOM Georgia on December 3-4 at the Georgian National Museum and the Ilya Chavchavadze Literary-Memorial Museum in Tbilisi. The workshop in each city was developed with our partners to open conversations with museum professionals focused on marketing, branding, communications, and community engagement. Museum directors welcomed the attendees, and each venue provided a comfortable environment conducive to the workshop activities, coffees, and lunches.

Everything in a Museum Communicates is a mindset that aims to understand the role of communications and strategic brand management as structural elements of a museum and how verbal and nonverbal elements can dramatically influence the visitor experience. It was led by project coordinator and presenter Luis Marcelo Mendes (Brazil) and co-presented in Italy by Cristina Chiaiso, who discussed the importance of the museum communication strategy, and in Georgia by Natia Khuluzauri, who presented the challenges and opportunities of museums in Georgia.

Participants were introduced to the themes on the first day in a two-way dialogue. They were welcomed to share their experiences, frustrations, and accomplishments in hands-on group exercises and presentations, facilitating creative problem-solving in a safe and welcoming space. Participants in each workshop were organized into four groups named for native artists: Artemisia, Anguissola, Leonardo, and Michelangelo in Genoa and David Kakabadze, Elene Akhvlediani, Niko Pirosmani, and Petre Otskheli in Tbilisi. Each group had received assignments via WhatsApp communications before the workshop. On the second day, the groups visited local museums to make observations and later shared lively SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analyses of the institutions they visited with the whole group.

Forty-nine participation certificates were presented to professionals from twelve countries: 29 from Italy, eight from Georgia, two from the Netherlands, two from Ukraine, two from Iran, and one each from India, Italy, Belgium, the United States, Paraguay, the United Kingdom, and Panama. Participant evaluations were highly positive, rating 9.27 out of ten in the post-workshop survey in Italy and 9.84 in the post-workshop survey in Georgia. It is essential to notice that protests in Tbilisi impacted the Tbilisi workshop. From the original 32 registered participants, only 18 could attend but found the experience particularly valuable against the backdrop of political unrest.

The workshop was described as “enlightening,” “inspiring,” “motivational,” and “practical.” Participants expressed deep appreciation in their WhatsApp Group conversations and in the surveys: “I would like to join this gratitude chain and thank the organizers for making these two days inspiring and changing perspectives! We are a great communicators community!” said Chiara Tonelli, from Italy. Notably, WhatsApp discussions that started before the workshops continued long after them.

One participant’s feedback summarized our intentions: “The best activity of the workshop was the group assignment where we applied the knowledge gained from the theoretical sessions in a practical setting. Teaming up with colleagues to visit our chosen museum was incredibly engaging and offered a fresh perspective on how to examine museums in ways I would have never considered before. This activity not only enhanced my practical skills but also transformed how I view museum visits altogether. Moreover, it fostered meaningful connections with my colleagues, helping us build strong friendships and improving communication across the entire group. It was truly a bridge-building experience that enriched both our professional and personal interaction.”